Following
September 11, 2001, the 2001-2002 Grand Jury studied the adequacy of security
at county courthouses. The Grand Jury focused first on the Hall of Justice
and Records in Redwood City, where the majority of the county's court
facilities are housed, followed by Northern Branch in South San Francisco,
Central Branch in San Mateo, and the Hillcrest Juvenile facility in unincorporated
San Mateo County. Grand jurors interviewed county personnel involved in
security administration and employees of the county's contract security
service, and observed security at each of the four facilities.

Since the first grand
jury report on this issue in 1994, the county has undertaken numerous
improvement measures.

The adequacy of security
varies from building to building, with the Hall of Justice and Records
having the highest level. Security measures are being upgraded at Northern
Branch through installation of new systems. The other two facilities have
some security, but it may be a number of years before significant improvements
are made.

In San Mateo County,
the design and implementation of courthouse security is complicated by
three factors:

Some buildings
house both county offices and court facilities

Responsibility
for security of those buildings rests with the county

Responsibility
to pay for security of the portions of the buildings occupied by the
courts rests with the state

The county cannot
act unilaterally to fund court security measures without paying expenses
that are the state's responsibility
.

Issue: Is there
appropriate and adequate security at San Mateo County courthouses?

The
September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
made it clear to the 2001-2002 Grand Jury that continued attention must
be paid to security issues in government and public buildings. For that
reason, the 2001-2002 Grand Jury decided to continue, and expand, its
monitoring of the adequacy of security at all the major County courthouses
(Hall of Justice and Records at County Center in Redwood City, North County
Courthouse at 1050 Mission Rd. in South San Francisco, Central Court Branch
at 800 No. Humboldt St. in San Mateo, and Hillcrest Juvenile Court on
Tower Rd. in unincorporated San Mateo County).

Courthouse security
has been a concern of every San Mateo County grand jury since 1994, with
reports issued every year except 2000. Since the 1994 report, the county
has undertaken numerous measures, including:

Establishment
of the standing Building Security Work Group

Reviews of security
issues at county court facilities

Installation of
a perimeter security system at the Hall of Justice and Records

Implementation
of a photo identification system for all county employees

The opening comments
of the 1994 Grand Jury report are still valid: "In recent years there
has been an increase nationwide in homicides and violent attacks on people
within public and private buildings. What used to be safe havens for workers
and officials are no longer so. Suspects, litigants, judges, deputies
and others have been killed or wounded while conducting business within
these buildings."

The 2001-2002 Grand
Jury's investigation included interviews with the Sheriff and key staff
members responsible for the security of County facilities, the County
Manager, the Court Executive Officer, several County Supervisors, members
of the Building Security Work Group, a small sample of workers in the
Hall of Justice and Records, and management staff of the county's contract
security service - Pinkerton Security and Investigation Service. It also
included a review of the County's $2.1 million per annum contract with
Pinkerton and direct observation of security practices at all county courthouses.

The contract specifies
the staffing levels, locations and service hours, staff qualifications,
training, and specific job duties for Pinkerton staff at each county facility
under the contract. The Countywide Security Program staff meets routinely
with the Pinkerton project managers, but does not hold formal periodic
project management meetings with them. The Sheriff is responsible for
courthouse security and supervises the Pinkerton contract. Its countywide
Security Program comprises two officers who are dedicated to, and have
direct responsibility for, security issues for all county facilities other
than jail facilities. Staffing of security services for all county facilities
consists of a combination of county personnel (e.g., Deputy Sheriffs)
and contractor personnel.

The
design and implementation of courthouse security is complicated by three
factors in this county:

Some buildings
house both county offices and court facilities

Responsibility
for security of those buildings rests with the county

Responsibility
to pay for security of the portions of the buildings occupied by the
courts rests with the state

The county initially
studied appropriate security for the Hall of Justice and Records in 1997,
but has not revisited that study as the 1997 report recommended. The only
current study is of the Northern Courthouse facility. There are also no
formal criteria or procedures to measure the performance of security systems
at county facilities.

In 1998 the judges
in this county adopted a court security plan in accordance with the California
Rules of Court. Since then the county judiciary has failed to periodically
review and assess its security plan as required by those rules. As noted
below, there are security breaches that should motivate the judges to
conduct this review.

Of all San Mateo County
courthouses the level of security is the highest at the Hall of Justice
and Records. The main entrance of the Redwood City courthouse has a security
checkpoint and badge-controlled revolving doors for the ingress and egress
of employees and registered attorneys. Current Grand Jury members personally
observed security violations or a lessened degree of security coverage
on several occasions, including: 1) badge holders opened security doors
for other people, 2) a baby stroller with packages passed through the
security checkpoint without inspection, and 3) deputies were absent from
the checkpoint area. The Grand Jury also obtained written reports describing
two recent incidents in which handguns were brought through security without
being detected. Security screening rules have also not been applied consistently.
There are confirmed reports that security screening is reduced for several
"important" individuals who sought it, and that some attorneys,
who are not county employees, have 24?hour, 7-day access to the building.
Most county employees working in the building do not have that level of
access.

After receiving their
ID badges and initial security briefings, badge holders do not receive
follow-up training to remind them of their security responsibilities.
For some employees, initial security briefings took place as long as four
years ago.

The Northern Courthouse,
which deals with a high volume of domestic and gang-related violence and
consequently has a high potential for confrontations, has no barrier or
perimeter security in place. In FY 2001-2002, the San Mateo Courts obtained
more than $1 million from the state for building perimeter security measures.
The courts determined to spend all of these funds on the Northern Courthouse
for a project that is underway.

The Central Court
Branch, which currently has limited security, may eventually be closed.
Its current security arrangements, therefore, are unlikely to be upgraded.

The Juvenile Court
also has only limited security. A new, expanded Juvenile Center is being
designed and security issues will be addressed as part of that project.

The Grand Jury did
not review security at other county facilities, but believes that the
2002-2003 Grand Jury should review the adequacy of security at other facilities,
such as San Mateo County Family Health Center.

The county should develop formal quantitative security standards and
hire an independent third party to test and evaluate courthouse building
perimeter security systems based on those standards at regular intervals.

As the security of court facilities is linked to overall building
security, the current "Court Security Plan", which was developed
in accordance with the California Rules of Court, should be reviewed
as part of recommendation 1, above.

The
Sheriff should review existing security standards and make any appropriate
changes.

The
Building Security Work Group should meet regularly and require a representative
of the county's contracted security service to attend.

The
Sheriff should improve management of the contract security service
by holding quarterly meetings with the county's contracted security
service to: (1) identify and discuss issues, (2) review progress on
action items, (3) define and reinforce standards for performance evaluation,
and (4) identify necessary contract amendments.

The
county should install video camera-recorder systems to monitor the
front and rear entrances of the Hall of Justice and Records for purposes
of deterrence, periodic audits, and follow-up investigations.

The
county should require and provide compulsory refresher security training
for all badge holders.

The
2002-2003 Grand Jury should monitor county courthouse security systems,
the recommendations made in this report, and the adequacy of security
at other county facilities, such as San Mateo County Family Health
Center.